I am thinking of opting for a ACTDEC approved center to complete my TESOL certification. DO you think it is a good option or would you people prefer to advise me to go in for a CELTA certification from British COuncil

It really depends on where you want to teach and at what level. CELTA has a high profile in Europe, having been massively advertised and promoted for years. It is undoubtedly a popular qualification that will open many doors. However in most places the basic requirements for entry level teaching positions are a degree plus a TESL/TEFL certificate - not necessarily a CELTA.

Bear also in mind that CELTA courses are fairly intensive in terms of finance, workload and commitment.

As for accreditation, there is no independent accrediting body for international TESL courses, despite what ACTDEC and the likes may claim. Therefore no course provider can claim to have independent international accreditation. This means that each institute, school, or organization recognizes their own Certificate and accreditation comes from good practice, professional standards and reputation. It often comes down to how the TEFL provider is perceived by the individual employer. So if you are concerned about the qualifications you will need, then the only sure way to find out is to talk to the school(s) where you'd like to work. They will have their own preferences.

I think Pete summarized the situation nicely. I would add that centres joining some kind of organisation is usually a good sign that they at least want to improve quality and/ or be known as a quality provider, as long as that organisation is not actually just another part of the same company- which happens!

A couple of other minor points. The CELTA is certified by Cambridge ESOL rather than the British Council, but is sometimes offered in British Council centres. While the standard of training on CELTA courses depends as much on individual trainers as it does on the organisation giving the course, having done your CELTA with a well-known organisation like IH or the British Council can't hurt as far as getting your CV noticed goes.

ACTDEC only accredit TESOL courses which meet its strict TESOL criteria. Also, it is ACTDEC which will issue your final TESOL certificate (or one of them) which is very useful for employers because in general employers will not have heard of your individual online TESOL course provider and so without this external accreditation they have no other way of judging the quality of the course. There is a huge variation in course quality out there and so ACTDEC is a way to separate your course from the mainstream, distinguishing it as a good course. I should say that I'm from global-english (an ACTDEC accredited provider) but you don't have to take our course! Another well respected TEFL accrediting body is the College of Teachers.

I realise you may think your blog is helpful, but you are most definitely barking up the wrong tree. Posting on sites like this to promote yourself, trying to discredit a long-standing and honest organisation like ACTDEC and approaching TESOL with a certain bitter attitude is not helpful to anyone.

Understand that ACTDEC is a non-profit organisation. Its only goal is to improve standards in the industry. It is difficult to achieve ACTDEC accreditation and it is well understood within ACTDEC that our low membership numbers are something we need to address. We cannot, however, do this by letting any organisation in who simply wish to pay a fee. Strict high standards must be met.

If ACTDEC's goal was to make money it would accredit many more institutions in exchange for a simple fee payment. I also think your insinuation that ACTDEC exists purely to enhance Eurolink's sales is incredulous. A lot more work than you care to realise goes into running ACTDEC, it would have been quite some undertaking for a small family-run business to go to all that trouble of setting up a genuine accrediting body just to boost the sales of one business. Far easier would be to find an unscrupulous "accrediting body" and "buy" the accreditation in with no ties.

For what it's worth the original poster's organisation applied for ACTDEC accreditation.

In future I'd appreciate it if you could ask us questions directly rather than making things up. As an organisation ACTDEC has nothing to hide and would welcome additional scrutiny, especially as it would help to unmuddy the waters where forum threads like this fail.

Hi I've been out of teaching ESL for 6 years and am looking to return to doing it abroad again. I don't have any formal training and would like to do this, bearing in mind that in the future I *maybe* will want to pursue a Masters Degree in the field.But now feel scared of teaching.How i can coverup this gap????